We want our REFUNDS! After last week’s Mail report, readers say Booking.com has left them alone…
Our post last week about the pitfalls of accommodation website Booking.com prompted a flood of emails from readers.
Booking scams have cost some readers more than £1,000, with many questioning the site’s cyber security. Others have complained about misleading property descriptions and poor treatment on arrival.
Here is an example of your complaints…
The Daily Mail’s report on the pitfalls of accommodation website Booking.com (pictured) has prompted a flood of emails from readers
When I booked a hotel in New York in September, my 20-year-old daughter and her boyfriend were scammed out of £1,100 after receiving a message via the Booking.com app telling them they had to go through a credit card authorization process.
Booking.com has constantly fobbed them off and not refunded them.
Philip Parker, via email.
In June we booked a double room, but were given a double bed, and my boyfriend and I – both in our 70s – didn’t want to share a bed. There were no other rooms available. I called Booking.com and was told we could stay there and get a small refund. I am still waiting.
Sandra Whaley, Ludlow, Shropshire.
Some readers have questioned Booking.com’s cybersecurity
I reserved a room in a ‘hotel’ in the south of France in September, but it seemed deserted, with a phone number scrawled on the door. The owner said he had not received payment from Booking.com and we would have to pay again. But Booking.com had charged my card. We refused and were kicked out. Booking. com refused to refund us the £115.
Alan Franck, via email.
When booking a hotel in Krabi, Thailand, in February, Booking.com said we would be charged once we got there. I then received an email from the hotel requesting payment, plus a similar message via Booking.com. com. After payment, the hotel advised us not to pay upon receipt of such requests. But it was too late. The scam cost us £943. I’m not getting anywhere with Booking.com.
David Calver, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.
In April I booked a caravan at a campsite in East Lothian via Booking.com. I arrived to find an unused, unclean and unlocked caravan. I tried to contact the owner and Booking. com with no success and paid to stay in another caravan. I’m £126 out of pocket. Four months of phone calls and emails to Booking.com have yielded no results.
Allan Gray, Sunderland.
I was scammed out of £400 by someone posing as an eco-lodge in Costa Rica when booking. The messaging system asked me to provide payment details by scanning a QR code. I did so and a week later a charge appeared on my credit card from a Nigerian bank. Booking.com customer service is useless.
Lee Wakerley, via email.
One Booking.com customer says he fell victim to a scam related to a hotel booking in Krabi, Thailand
We tried to book a hotel in Blackpool but when I checked my Booking.com account it wasn’t recorded. I called Booking.com to be told the booking had not yet been completed. We stayed elsewhere but charged for both hotels. After 15 calls and 20 emails, Booking.com still hasn’t refunded us.
Mr Nykola and Ms Lorraine Hryziuk, via email.
Booking.com says: ‘We can confirm that no hack has occurred on Booking.com. Some hotels and other accommodations are targeted by professional scammers, downloading malware onto their own computer systems. As an intermediary booking platform, we facilitate millions of stays every week.’
WHAT WE THINK
Many of us trust Booking.com because it is such a big name. But security flaws, scams, misleading descriptions and poor customer service don’t help this. Be careful when making payments via online messages – try to pay upon arrival.